Sony has revealed its newest addition to the Alpha line-up, with the Sony Alpha 7 IV promising flagship features at a price point far more attainable to enthusiast photographers and videographers. Successor to the popular Alpha 7 III, the new full-frame camera sets its sights on what Sony calls “hybrid shooters”: people for whom capturing video is just as important … Continue reading
Today the first major Uncharted trailer was released, complete with Tom Holland and Mark Wahlberg in full effect. This movie is based on the hit video game series of the same name, and will be released by Sony Pictures Entertainment. And no matter how much you want to think this is a secret Spider-Man sequel, it’s not! Unless it is. … Continue reading
Microsoft seems bent on the idea that Seagate will be the absolute best company to promote for storage expansion for the Xbox Series X and S. At the launch of the console, Microsoft’s own “Designed for Xbox” announced a “close collaboration with Seagate” to create storage expansion for the Xbox Series X. Now they’ve “collaborated with Seagate once again.” Per … Continue reading
Even though Holland plays a much younger version of the character (which Mark Wahlberg’s Sully jokes about in the opening moments) than in the games, the enjoyable-enough trailer incudes some of the most memorable moments from Drake’s globe-trotting adventures. There isn’t a bit where he clambers up a train carriage that’s dangling over a cliff, but there’s the cargo plane set piece from Uncharted 3 and a ship trapped inside a cave, just like in Uncharted 4. The clip includes some underground exploration too.
The film’s set to arrive in theaters on February 11th, following several delays. Attempts to make an Uncharted movie stopped and started over the years, with directors including David O. Russell, Seth Gordon and Shawn Levy being attached at certain points before Zombieland and Venom helmer Ruben Fleischer saw the film through. The project had been in development for so long that, for a while, Wahlberg looked set to play Drake, rather than the character’s mentor.
Some viewers might be coming to the franchise with fresh eyes (maybe because they need more Tom Holland in their lives), and they might want to play the games to see what all the fuss is about. Sony Pictures included a handy reminder at the end of the trailer about a remastered bundle of Uncharted 4 and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy that’s coming to PlayStation 5 and PC in early 2022.
In case the trailer doesn’t quite match up to what you might have expected, or Holland doesn’t seem like the right person for the gig in your opinion, it’s worth checking out this short fan film from a few years back in which Nathan Fillion plays the rogueish treasure hunter. It’s a blast.
Sony has finally revealed its mainstream $2,500 Alpha A7 IV full-frame mirrorless camera and it looks to have been worth the wait. Borrowing technology from the recent A1 and A7S III models, it offers large improvements over the A7 III introduced well over three years ago. Key features include an all-new 33-megapixel sensor, 4K 10-bit 60 fps video, new AI autofocus tricks and a lot more.
The A7 IV resembles the A7S III in terms of size and layout, but you can now select between still, video and S&Q (slow and quick) options with a new dedicated dial below the mode dial. Each mode completely changes the settings and control layout of the camera to favor either photo- or video-centric controls. As with the A7S III, the video record button has been moved to a more practical spot on top for vloggers.
Sony
It comes with a 3.68-million dot electronic viewfinder (EVF) with a more comfortable 120 Hz refresh rate, up from the 2.36-million dot, 60Hz EVF on the A7 III. For videographers, the A7 IV offers a flip-out 1.03 million dot rear LCD display, making the camera far more usable for vlogging than the A7 III.
The 5-axis in-body stabilization delivers 5.5 stops of shake reduction, up slightly from before, but far below the 8 stops promised by Canon’s like-priced EOS R6. However, it now offers an “active mode” for movies that helps smooth footsteps.
In terms of storage, the A7 IV offers two slots, with the top dual slot taking either SDXC UHS II (up to 300 MB/s speeds or CFexpress Type A (up to 800 MB/s), and the bottom slot compatible with SDXC UHS II only. On the A1 and A7S III, by comparison, both slots support both those formats. As for battery life, the A7 IV delivers 610 CIPA shots on a charge, compared to 700 on the A7 III.
Sony
The 33-megapixel backside illuminated (BSI) sensor provides a significant resolution boost over the A7 III’s 24.1-megapixel sensor, while still offering good low-light sensitivity, Sony told Engadget. However, it doesn’t offer the stacked chip-on-sensor technology of the A1 and A9/A9 II, so it lacks the sensor readout speeds of those models.
As such, the A7 IV is limited to the same 10 fps shootings speeds as the A7 III, both with the mechanical and electronic shutter — whereas the A1 can shoot at triple that speed. However, the A7 III was limited to around 90 RAW frames at a time, but the A7 IV can shoot an incredible 828 uncompressed RAW+JPEG images in a burst, provided you capture to a CFexpress Type A card.
Powered by the A1’s BIONZ R processing engine, it offers the same 759 phase-detect AF points as the A1 with around 94 percent sensor coverage. It also comes with the same AI-powered image tracking that can process spatial information “in real time at high speed,” Sony said. That means more tenacious tracking, along with faster and more accurate eye AF for humans, animals and birds.
Sony
Perhaps the biggest improvements with the A7 IV are on with video. Where the A7 III was limited to 4K/30p with 8 bits of color depth, the A7 IV can handle 4K at up to 60 fps with 10 bit, 4:22 All-I capture — putting it on par with Canon’s EOS R6 and the Panasonic GH5 II. 4K 30fps is super-sampled using the entire 7K width of the sensor, while 4K/60p uses a 4.6K Super35 1.5X crop. That means there’s no pixel binning, so video should be very sharp.
It supports a number of video file types, including XAVC S All-I at up to 600 Mbps for 4K/60 10-bit, 4:2:2 movies. All of the video modes, except one S&Q setting that requires CFexpress Type A, can be captured to an SD UHS II card. However, unlike the A1 and A7S III, there’s no support for 16-bit RAW video capture to an external recorder. RAW video isn’t found on the EOS R6 either, but is available on Panasonic’s $1,800 GH5s and the $2,000 Nikon Z6 II, via recorders from Atomos and Blackmagic Design.
Video autofocus is improved with faster and more accurate tracking, and the A7 IV is Sony’s first camera to support both human and animal/bird eye tracking for video. If the A7 IV’s AF works nearly as well as the A7S III, it should be nearly on par with Canon’s Dual Pixel AF.
What about overheating, the EOS R6’s primary bugbear? With a heat-dissipating body structure, the A7 IV can record 4K 60p 10-bit 4:2:2 video continuously for more than an hour, Sony claims. The R6, meanwhile, is limited to around 40 minutes at 4K/30p before a cooling off period is required.
Sony
With most camera lenses, pulling video focus from a foreground to background subject can cause an ugly change in framing. The A7 IV’s Focus Breathing Compensation system essentially uses a digital zoom to compensate for that, making the transition smoother. However, since the system needs to track lens elements, it only supports Sony-branded glass — and only the rather expensive G and GM models, at that.
If you’d rather focus manually, the A7 IV is debuting a new feature called Focus Map. It overlays colors onto a scene showing the parts within, behind and in front of the depth of field (DOF). That’s supposed to help you pull focus quickly and in the right direction toward your subject. Related to that is the new “AF Assist” function borrowed from Sony’s FX6 cinema camera that allows for manual focus, even during autofocus operation.
Sony
Lastly, Sony has introduced new live streaming and sharing features, though they’re not quite up to the level we’ve seen on other recent cameras. If you use Sony’s Imaging Edge mobile app, it will now use Bluetooth to maintain a continuous connection, rather than disconnecting as before.
It also offers faster transfer speeds with 5GHz WiFi and superspeed USB-C 3.2 Gen2 (10Gbps). You can do video and audio streaming over USB-C at up to 1080p 60 or 4K 15p if resolution is a priority over smooth video. That allows for webcam or livestreaming via apps like OBS with digital audio and effects like soft skin. The camera can also record internally while you’re live streaming, providing a backup. Unlike Panasonic’s GH5 II however, you can’t transmit via RTMP to Twitch, YouTube or other services without a phone or laptop.
The A7 IV is clearly a massive leap forward for Sony’s “basic” full-frame mirrorless camera series, putting it on par or ahead of most rivals. The only deterrent is the $2,500 price tag ($2,699 with a 28-70mm f/3.5-5.6 OSS kit lens), which is $500 more than the A7 III cost at launch. I’d wager, though, that it’s going to be just as popular as the original, provided it delivers the promised performance — so stay tuned for our review. The A7 IV is set to arrive by the end of December 2021.
With the COVID pandemic still upon us, a monitor is one of the most important computer buying decisions you can make. Luckily, there’s never been more choice, and we’ve seen vast improvements in color accuracy, size and resolution since our last update.
It’s great to have lots of choice, but it can also make your buying decision a challenge. For example, do you need HDR, and if so, how bright should your monitor be? How important is color accuracy, refresh rates and input lag? What size do you need? Should it be curved or straight?
Luckily, we’ve done the research and can help you figure all that out depending on your specific needs and, most importantly, budget. Read on to see exactly what to look for in a monitor and which makes and models to choose.
The basics
Screen size, resolution and display format
In this day and age, screen size rules. Where 24-inch displays used to be more or less standard (and can still be useful for basic computing), 27-, 32-, 34- and even 42-inch displays have become popular for entertainment, content creation and even gaming these days.
Nearly every monitor used to be 16:9, but it’s now possible to find 16:10 and other more exotic display shapes. On the gaming and entertainment side, we’re also seeing very wide and curved monitors with aspect ratios like 21:9. If you do decide to buy an ultrawide display, however, keep in mind that a 30-inch 21:9 model is the same height as a 24-inch monitor, so you might end up with a smaller display than you expected. As a rule of thumb, add 25 percent to the size of a 21:9 monitor to get the size you need.
4K is nearly a must for content creators, and some folks are even going for 5K or all the way up to 8K. Keep in mind, though, that you’ll need a pretty powerful computer to drive all those pixels. And 4K should be paired with a screen size of 27 inches and up, or you won’t notice much difference between 1440p. At the same time, I wouldn’t get a model larger than 27 inches unless it’s 4K, as you’ll start to see pixelation if you’re working up close to the display.
One new category to consider is portable monitors designed to be carried and used with laptops. Those typically come in 1080p resolutions and sizes from 13-15 inches. They usually have a lightweight kickstand-type support that folds up to keep things compact.
HDR
HDR is the buzzy monitor feature to have these days, but be careful before jumping in. Some monitors that claim HDR on the marketing materials don’t even conform to a base standard. To be sure that a display at least meets minimum HDR specs, you’ll want to choose one with a DisplayHDR rating with each tier representing maximum brightness in nits.
However, the lowest DisplayHDR 400 and 500 tiers may disappoint you with a lack of brightness, washed out blacks and mediocre color reproduction.If you can afford it, choose a model with DisplayHDR 600, 1000 or True Black 400, True Black 500 and True Black 600. The True Black settings are designed primarily for OLED models, with maximum black levels at .0005 nits.
Where televisions typically offer HDR10 and Dolby Vision or HDR10+, most PC monitors only support the HDR10 standard, other than a few (very expensive) models. That doesn’t matter much for content creation or gaming, but HDR streaming on Netflix, Amazon Prime Video and other services won’t look quite as punchy.
Refresh rate
Refresh rate is a key feature, particularly on gaming monitors. A bare minimum nowadays is 60Hz, and 80Hz refresh rates and up are much easier on the eyes. However, most 4K displays top out at 60Hz with some rare exceptions and the HDMI 2.0 spec only supports 4K at 60Hz, so you’d need at least DisplayPort 1.4 (4K at 120Hz) or HDMI 2.1. The latter is now available on a number of monitors, particularly gaming displays. However, it’s only supported on the latest NVIDIA RTX 3000- and AMD RX 6000-series GPUs and requires a very powerful PC.
Inputs
There are essentially three types of modern display inputs: Thunderbolt, DisplayPort and HDMI. Most monitors built for PCs come with the latter two, while a select few (typically built for Macs) will use Thunderbolt. To add to the confusion, USB-C ports may be Thunderbolt 3 and by extension, DisplayPort compatible, so you may need a USB-C to Thunderbolt or DisplayPort cable adapter depending on your display.
Panel type
The cheapest monitors are still TN (twisted nematic), which are strictly for gaming or office use. VA (vertical alignment) monitors are also relatively cheap, while offering good brightness and high contrast ratios. However, content creators will probably want an IPS (in-plane switching) LCD display that delivers better color accuracy, image quality and viewing angles.
If maximum brightness is important, a quantum dot LCD display is the way to go — those are typically found in larger displays. OLED monitors are now available and offer the best blacks and color reproduction, but they lack the brightness of LED or quantum dot displays. Plus, they cost a lot.
The new panel on the block is MiniLED. It’s similar to quantum dot tech, but as the name suggests, it uses smaller LED diodes that are just 0.2mm in diameter. As such, manufacturers can pack in up to three times more LEDs with more local dimming zones, delivering deeper blacks and better contrast.
Color bit depth
Serious content content creators should consider a more costly 10-bit monitor that can display billions of colors. If budget is an issue, you can go for an 8-bit panel that can fake billions of colors via dithering (often spec’d as “8-bit + FRC”). For entertainment or business purposes, a regular 8-bit monitor that can display millions of colors will be fine.
Color gamut
The other aspect of color is the gamut. That expresses the range of colors that can be reproduced and not just the number of colors. Most good monitors these days can cover the sRGB and Rec.709 gamuts (designed for photos and video respectively). For more demanding work, though, you’ll want one that can reproduce more demanding modern gamuts like AdobeRGB, DCI-P3 and Rec.2020 gamuts, which encompass a wider range of colors. The latter two are often used for film projection and HDR, respectively.
Engadget picks
Best monitor around $200
Acer KG241Q
Acer
Whether you need a monitor for gaming, entertainment or work, Acer’s 24-inch KG241Q offers a lot of value. Resolution is limited to 1080p, but it delivers a 144Hz refresh rate and comes with AMD FreeSync support. Other features include a 1-millisecond lag time, 300 nits of brightness, HDMI and DisplayPort inputs and a tilting stand. The downsides are tricky access to the ports and a TN display that looks dim at an angle, but it’s a heck of a steal right now at $155.
Moving your budget up by just $100 opens up a whole lot more options. A case in point is our pick for content creation chores, the ASUS ProArt PA278QV. You get a larger 27-inch size, increased 2,560 x 1,440 resolution and a superior IPS panel. As with other ProArt models, the PA278QV is designed specifically for photo and video editing, with a 100 percent Rec.709 gamut, Calman verified color accuracy and ProArt presets and palettes for different kinds of work. It also offers DisplayPort and HDMI ports and tilt, swivel, pivot and height adjustments. That’s a lot of monitor for a current street price of $315.
There are numerous decent gaming monitors around $300, but we’ve managed to narrow it down to one: Dell’s S2522HG. For a monitor in this price range, you get a lot: a 24.5-inch IPS 1080p display with a 240Hz refresh rate, 400 nits of brightness, 1-millisecond response time and AMD Free-Sync and NVIDIA G-Sync compatibility. It comes with HDMI, DisplayPort and SuperSpeed USB 3.2 Gen1 inputs, along with a stand that allows for height adjustment, tilt, swivel and pivot. You can pick one up now at Amazon for $320.
LG’s 27UK500 is a nice all around monitor that can cover gaming, entertainment and some content creation. The 27-inch 4K IPS display covers 98 percent of the sRGB gamut and supports HDR10 with 10-bit color, though it only outputs 300 nits of brightness so it isn’t DisplayHDR certified. If you like 4K gaming, it can handle that decently thanks to AMD FreeSync support, a 60 Hz refresh rate and a 5-millisecond response time. The downsides are a tilt only stand, but it’s very well priced at just $347.
For creatives, the BenQ PD2700U pushes all the right buttons. The 27-inch 4K IPS panel delivers 10-bit HDR color and covers 100 percent of the sRGB gamut with Calman verified Delta E color accuracy less than 3. It’s also a fine choice for entertainment and gaming with 350 nits of brightness, a 1300:1 contrast ratio, viewing angle of 178 degrees and a 5-millisecond response time. It has tilt, swivel, pivot and height adjustment and most of the ports you need, including HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4. You can pick one up now at B&H for $500.
Acer’s Nitro XV252Q is the only gaming monitor under $500 that supports 360 Hz refresh rates, but there’s more to it than just that. The 24.5-inch HD display outputs 400 nits of brightness, so it’s DisplayHDR 400 certified for HDR games and movies. It also comes with AMD FreeSync compatibility, a 99 percent sRGB color gamut and DisplayPort 1.4 and HDMI 2.0 connections. You can tilt, swivel, pivot and adjust the height by up to 4.7 inches, and it looks pretty snazzy, with very slim side and top bezels.
Dell’s 27-inch, 4K U2720Q IPS monitor offers 4K HDR performance for a decent price. It conforms to the DisplayHDR 400 spec while offering 10-bits of color and 99 percent sRGB coverage, with a Delta E color accuracy of less than two out of the box. So this is a good monitor for HDR movies and doing some graphics chores, particularly HDR video work — all for under $700.
Though it’s marketed as a gaming monitor thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate, 1-millisecond response time and G-Sync support, Acer’s 4K quantum dot Predator XB273K is really a jack of all trades. It’s also DisplayHDR 400 compatible, covers 90 percent of the challenging DCI-P3 color gamut and offers a Delta<1 color accuracy. You also get tilt and height adjustments, HDMI 2.0 and DisplayPort 1.4 ports and pivot and height adjustment.
Apple’s $5,000 Pro Display XDR is much too rich for most of us, so the next most logical option is LG’s $1,300 Ultrafine 5K display, also sold on Apple’s Store. With a 27-inch 5K panel, you not only get very high resolution but also 500 nits of brightness (albeit, without HDR capability). It’s color-accurate out of the box, making it great for video- and photo-editing work on a Mac or MacBook. Finally, it supports Thunderbolt 3 with daisy chaining and power delivery, all of which is very useful for Mac users.
If that model is too much, you can also consider LG’s 24-inch Ultrafine 4K. For nearly half the price ($700), it offers many of the same features (including the powered and daisy-chained Thunderbolt ports, color accuracy and more) in a smaller size and with just a bit less resolution.
Ultrawide 21:9 monitors are a great option for some types of content creation, flight sims and financial work. The best model this year (with perhaps the worst name) is MSI’s Optix MPG341CQR. With an 1800R curve and 3,440 x 1,440 resolution it’s ideal for gaming, with the 120Hz refresh rate, 1-millisecond response time and HDR 400 also helping in that regard. It also offers a frameless design, tilt, swivel and height adjustment and HDMI 2.0/DisplayPort 1.4 ports. It also has an LED strip that provides helpful cues for in-game status like remaining health or ammo, too.
To best complement your laptop, a portable monitor should be small, lightweight and not too expensive. The model that best meets all those requirements is ViewSonic’s VG1655. At 15.6 inches and weighing under 2 pounds, the 1080p 60 Hz IPS display can be toted around fairly easily but still provide crisp, clear visuals. It’s also reasonably bright at 250 nits, comes in standard and touch version, packs dual speakers and has a built-in stand with a cover.
If you’re gaming on the bleeding edge at 4K and 120Hz, you’ll first need either a fast PC or PS5/Xbox Series X console. If you’ve got that and would prefer to use a monitor rather than a TV, your best bet will soon be Acer’s Nitro XV282K display. Along with 4K resolution at up to 144Hz, it offers a 1-millisecond refresh rate, 10-bit color and 400 nits (DisplayHDR 400 compatible) of brightness. It comes, of course, with an HDMI 2.1 input, along with DisplayPort 1.4. It’s not yet available, but should arrive soon for $900.
ASUS still holds the prize for best luxury monitor, but it discontinued the previous mini-LED $4,000 ProArt PA32UCX monitor and replaced it with the $5,000 PA32UCG-K display. It uses the same mini-LED tech, but ups the ante with 1,600 nits of brightness, an HDMI 2.1 port, 4K 120Hz resolution, 10-bit, 98 percent DCI-P3 coverage and an impressive 85 percent Rec.2020 coverage. Oh, and it’s one of the few monitors out there that supports Dolby Vision, along with HDR10 and HLG.
You’re probably doing it wrong if you’re using a $5K monitor for gaming. However, it does support AMD FreeSync (good for gaming creation) and has a 5-millisecond response time, very respectable for a display essentially designed for professional colorists. And to that end, color accuracy is calibrated to Delta E < 1 and it’s a true 10-bit panel delivering billions of colors.
Faster than we think, 8K video will be upon us, so you might be pondering an 8K monitor to stay ahead of the curve. Dell’s UP3218K is part of its UltraSharp lineup for creators, so it not only delivers 8K (7,680 x 4,320) 60p resolution but other nice pro features, too.
The 10-bit native IPS panel delivers 400 nits of brightness, though the UP3218K isn’t an HDR monitor. It also delivers 1.07 billion colors and covers 98 percent of the DCI-P3 color gamut, with a Delta E of less than two out of the box. It’s also one of the few monitors that flips around 90 degrees, making it good for portrait photo work.
This monitor isn’t cheap either at $3,500 (8K monitors are still very rare), but Dell’s UP3216Q 4K monitor has most of the features for less than half the price. It’s not quite as bright at 350 nits and covers just 87 percent of the DCI-P3 gamut, but it offers 1.07 billion colors and is just as precise for color correction out of the box.
You won’t have to pay for quick Polestar 2 charges — at least, not for a while. The automaker has struck a deal that will give Polestar 2 drivers two years of free fast charging at Electrify America stations. You’ll be limited to 30-minute sessions, but that won’t matter so much when a 150kW charger can give you a healthy top-up (though likely not a full one) in that time frame.
The offer applies to both existing and future Polestar 2 owners. Electrify America is keen to highlight the potential advantages, including simpler payments and an easier time finding stations.
The Polestar deal isn’t as sweet as the three years Electrify America creator VW gives its own brands. It also doesn’t address the coverage and reliability issues that EV charging networks sometimes face. Electrify America is rapidly expanding its network, but it might take years before the infrastructure is robust enough that you could assume a fast charger is reasonably close by. Still, this could make the Polestar 2 an easier choice if you were anxious about recharging away from home.
It was a balmy day in Taiwan in November 2019, and I was rummaging through the Family Mart adjoined to the Qishan Bus Station. It was my last chance for 9V batteries and spicy tuna rice balls before taking a taxi into the mountains, where many of the remaining Indigenous languages of the island are spoken, the rest…
These days you really only hear about hoverboards on “hey, do you remember?…” lists. But Ninebot, the company who bought the Segway brand, really wants them to still be a thing and continues to cook up wacky add-ons for the self-balancing devices, including a new ride-on that turns them into a tank that really fires.
Tom Hardy just can’t stop teasing Venom crossovers. The cast of the Marvel’s Eternals introduce their heroes. Get a glimpse of Legends of Tomorrow’s 100th episode. Plus, David Gordon Green talks about the challenge of the competing Hellraiser reboots. To me, my spoilers!
This is site is run by Sascha Endlicher, M.A., during ungodly late night hours. Wanna know more about him? Connect via Social Media by jumping to about.me/sascha.endlicher.
